Ethan B. Kapstein

Kapstein and Converse argue that democratic transitions are more likely to last if the government provides institutional checks on the power of the executive, creating credible and legitimate public authority.

In "Economic Justice in an Unfair World", Ethan Kapstein sets out admirably to define a global system that would guarantee opportunity for all states. But on the key issue -- free trade -- he subverts his own efforts by clinging to simplistic neoliberal dogma.

The international adoption trade is booming, as more families in the West adopt more babies from developing countries. But it has spawned a sordid black market as well, in which children are bought or abducted and sold. The best way to stop the trafficking is not to ban adoptions from countries that tolerate corrupt rings, but to strengthen the underdeveloped multilateral legal regime that regulates adoptions around the planet.

Not everyone is a winner in the global economy. Unemployment is high in Europe and inequality is rising in the United States as growth proves disappointing and foreign competition drives wages down. While economists debate causes and officials fret over inflation, protectionism threatens world trade. Postwar policymakers, learning from the upheaval of the 1930s, struck a deal with workers. Bretton Woods and Dumbarton Oaks would foster global commerce, and the International Monetary Fund and domestic public policy would make sure that everyone gained. Stagflation in the 1970s undermined this social contract. Policymakers today must abandon their fiscal stringency, or more unpleasant leaders may rise.